We are all biochemically different, and our dietary nutrient requirements for optimal health vary. Each of us is unique due to variations in our genetics, lifestyle, dietary habits and health problems. If we were all the same, the same multivitamin-supplement with the same doses would provide the same results. Dr. Roger J. Williams, a pioneer in the field of nutrition and renowned biochemist, who discovered pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), wrote extensively on “biochemical individuality” and has shown that every human is innately highly distinctive in terms of his biochemistry. Dr. Williams believed that no two individuals are identical in bodily structure and neither are their chemical processes always carried out in the same ways. Different persons need different combinations and amounts of food elements, vitamins and other nutrients.
Some 106 million Americans use vitamin and mineral supplements every day, and 45 million reported using herbal remedies regularly. Further, 74 million Americans are more likely to treat themselves than see or consult a physician. A recent survey noted that consumers have low confidence in labeling information and product safety, and that product labels, magazines, doctors, books and advertising all ranked ahead of pharmacists in providing information on dietary supplements. Lower than pharmacists as an information source, the survey noted, are health food stores and alternative medicine practitioners. One of the last places consumers used for information on dietary supplements was the Internet. Conlan M F, Drug Topics, Oct. 18, 1999, pg. 58.
Computerized programs for medical needs are not new to the art. Potter et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,354 discloses an interactive method for performing a differential diagnosis using a programmed computer system and a stored data base. Kaufman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,462 discloses a medication delivery device. Swenson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,925 discloses a virtual medical instrument system for storing diagnostic test protocols. Williams III, U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,350 discloses a method for selecting foodstuffs to compare the user's daily dietary and physical activities to the user's recommended dietary allowance. None of the above cited patents teach or suggest the use of the method or process outlined in the present invention.
A more reliable source of information regarding the selection of dietary supplements is sought by consumers and provided by the present invention.